  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 11/01/2016 *Starred Review* One of the problems of high-rise living is getting a good night’s sleep with all those noisy neighbors. On the first floor, a little one can’t get her rest, because something is “going LaLaLa” above her head. Two legs partially visible on the floor above hint at what’s to come. Turn the page and a frizzy-haired mustachioed opera singer is practicing an aria. On ascending floors, a baby noisily coos (“MaMaMa”), cowboys laugh (“HawHawHaw”), cheerleaders leap (“RahRahRah”), and so on. Top floor? A pajama-clad bearded curmudgeon angrily shouts, “Go to bed!” The last page (“ZZZ”) shows the old man finally sleeping soundly in a blue-black room. The fun is seeing the clues at the top of each page and guessing who or what the next noisemakers will be. Barnett cleverly packs a punch with his spare text as he builds each surprise up to a humorous crescendo. Biggs’ enticing cover is an homage to Chicago Imagist artist Roger Brown, whose distinctive painting style often depicts nocturnal cityscapes with black silhouettes of people glimpsed through windows of apartment buildings. Children will want to return to this witty cover to catch glimpses of all the characters they’ve met ascending from floor to floor. The interior’s bright pages explode with color illustrating the various sound-makers gleefully going about their cacophonous activities. - Copyright 2016 Booklist. School Library Journal - 02/01/2017 PreS-Gr 1—This rousing selection opens with a boy being kept awake by sounds coming from the apartment above his bedroom. The lad wonders what is going on. The audible commotion stems from a man singing opera, who, in turn, wonders about sounds above his head. This leads to a lively chain of characters, each on subsequent levels of a high-rise building, producing noise and then musing about the sounds they hear from above. These additional noises are in turn produced by a baby, sheep, cowboys, a young trumpet player, a crow, cheerleaders, dancers, and, finally, an old man directing them to go to bed. This title invites audience participation; young listeners can chime in with the swift, repetitive text or by reproducing the variety of sound effects. The book's cover nicely establishes the night setting and offers readers a good sense of where the story takes place. Spirited cartoonish illustrations enhance the mood by visually magnifying the evening chaos described in the text. Children's curiosity will be piqued by illustrations with partial glimpses at floors above; these images allow readers or listeners a chance to predict who or what might be making the noises. Vibrant oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, and reds stand out against the heavy black lines used to separate apartment floors. Attention given to artwork details can be seen in the patterned wallpaper, which varies from floor to floor. VERDICT The writing style and energetic illustrations tell an amusing tale that will be a rollicking bedtime or storytime read-aloud.—Lynn Vanca, Freelance Librarian, Akron, OH - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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